In an industry dominated by men (doom metal especially so), LA-based trio Faetooth are here prove that women can drive just as hard chugging guitars. The crowd, as if enchanted by some twisted fae, slowly headbang to their dark soundscape, while the screams, growls and cleans of Jenna Garcia (bass + vocals) and Ari May (guitar + vocals) provide the bite of the second half of their name, all of this punctuated throughout by Rah Kanan‘s drums.
With it being Valentines Day, Jenna and Ari both came on sporting heart antennae head bands, though Jennas was soon launched into the crowd from a particularly energetic set of headbanging and midway through their set, checking in on the crowd and hoping the folks on dates were having a good one.
Third from last track of the night, ‘Discarnate‘ from their first full length album ‘Remnants of the Vessel’, marks a pick up in intensity, with spine chilling screams and bass you can feel all the way to your soul. Final track of the night, ‘Echolalia‘, gets the biggest cheer from the crowd, with the front pair playing off each other to a crescendo of noise.
Supporting them on this tour is Coltaine, named after a character from Steven Eriksons epic series, Malazan Book of the Fallen and for the fans of the book series include subtle nods to it in their lyrics. This blackened doom quartet from Germany start their set off mysteriously, in deep shadows, with just chanting by the singer to the sounds of bells before launching into fist track ‘Tiefe Wasser‘. Their set is full of slow, grungy, sludgy riffs and melancholic vocals, each track taking you on a journey, eschewing the shorter tracks so common in modern music.
Openers Lemondaze kick off the night with brilliantly droney rock, the Cambridge four piece setting the scene for tonights trio of bands. Unfortunate issues on the tube means a lot of the crowd missed the majority of their set, though hopefully being fairly local they’ll be able to return to a bigger crowd soon.
